In just four years and after a stint with Grupo Aventura, bachata singer Romeo Santos has built a serious career as a soloist, becoming one of the most successful singers today.
He has just been named Latino artist of the year by Billboard, and his Formula Vol. 2 album was the best-selling Latin record of 2014.
Bachata, originating in the Dominican Republic, features guitar music and often focuses on love, pain and trouble. Like Santos, it's extremely popular with Latinos across the U.S.
Santos, the Bronx-born son a Dominican mother and a Puerto Rican father, will be at Dallas' American Airlines Center on Friday as part of a tour that includes four concerts in Texas.
Here are five things to know about Santos:
1. His musical roots: Santos' deepest musical influences have been hip-hop and the Juan Gabriel and Julio Iglesias songs that his parents put on repeat. Santos, 33, has a 14-year old son.
2. His Midas touch: The Formula Vol. 2 Tour sells out audiences wherever it goes. Santos has been all over the United States, Latin America and Europe with 15 shows, including two at Yankee Stadium in New York and another two at Argentina's River Plate Stadium, filling the place with around 50,000 fans each night.
Primera noche de 2 Rivers..gracias Buenos Aires. pic.twitter.com/uwhlsHaLmR
— Romeo Santos (@RomeoSantosPage) March 1, 2015
3. He is a social media king: Santos has more than 30 million fans on Facebook, 3.19 million Twitter followers and 2.4 million on Instagram. His "Propuesta Indecente" video on YouTube has had more than 694 million views.
4. He's dabbling in movies: Santos made his motion picture debut in this year's blockbuster Furious 7, with Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson and the late Paul Walker. He'll be in next year's big-screen adaptation of the Angry Birds video game.
Romeo Santos acting debut in the upcoming film release of @FastFurious in theaters April 3rd #RomeoSantos #Furious7 pic.twitter.com/bbenyp65S3
— Romeo Santos (@RomeoSantosPage) March 13, 2015
5. He's proud of his Latino heritage: Santos' Formula Vol. 2 production includes collaborations with Drake, Marc Anthony, Nicki Minaj, Tego Calderón and Kevin Hart, but he always sings in Spanish. "Proud of being Latino, proud of being bachatero, proud of not having to trade my language or genre to achieve my goals," he wrote on his Instagram account as he showed images of his April appearance at NBC's Today show.
By Lorena Flores, Al Dia
